Argentine President Offers to Donate Salary After Party Scandal

(Bloomberg) -- Argentine President Alberto Fernandez presented himself before a federal judge Thursday in the wake of a growing scandal around a party hosted at the height of a pandemic lockdown. 

Less than a month before a primary midterm vote, Fernandez offered to donate half of his next four paychecks to an Argentine health institute as a penalty for his actions. He penned a document to the judge after a federal prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation into the matter. 

In July 2020, Fernandez hosted a birthday party for first lady Fabiola Yanez during the height of a strict, stay-at-home quarantine. A photo from the party surfaced this month, sparking public outcry. Fernandez initially said he lamented what happened, but noted that Yanez planned the party. Videos from the gathering later became public too. 

READ MORE: Argentine President’s Negative Image Rises to 71%: Synopsis

“As I’ve expressed publicly, I assumed total responsibility for what happened in the Olivos residence,” Fernandez wrote in the court document, alluding to the presidential compound outside of Buenos Aires. 

But Fernandez argued that “before the absence of a detrimental outcome,” from the party, the president proposed to the judge that he consider “the penal insignificance (not moral or social) of the condemned behavior.” 

While it’s unlikely Fernandez will be convicted of a crime, his plea to the judge outlines the extent of damage control his coalition has undertaken ahead of the midterm elections. Polls showed Fernandez’s public image suffered as a result of the party scandal, but it’s unclear if voters will punish his coalition’s lawmakers over it.

Argentina holds a primary midterm vote on Sept. 12 and the general vote on Nov. 14. 

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